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Cosmati
The Cosmati were a Roman family, seven members of which, for four generations, were skilful architects, sculptors and workers in decorative geometric mosaic, mostly for church floors. Their name is commemorated in the genre of Cosmatesque work, often just called "Cosmati", a technique of ''opus sectile'' ("cut work") formed of elaborate inlays of small triangles and rectangles of colored stones and glass mosaics set into stone matrices or encrusted upon stone surfaces. Bands, panels and shaped reserves of intricate mosaic alternate with contrasting bands, guilloches and simple geometric shapes of plain white marble. Pavements and revetments were executed in Cosmatesque technique, columns were inlaid with fillets and bands, and immovable church furnishings like cathedras and '' ambones'' were similarly treated. In addition, members of the Cosmati engaged in commerce in ancient sculptures, some unearthed in the course of excavating for marbles for reuse. More than one ancient Roma ...
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Cosmatesque
Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also used to decorate church walls, pulpits, and Cathedra, bishop's thrones. The name derives from the Cosmati, the leading family workshop of craftsmen in Rome who created such geometrical marble decorations. The style spread across Europe, where it was used in the most prestigious churches; the high altar of Westminster Abbey, for example, is decorated with a Cosmatesque marble floor. Description and early history The Cosmatesque style takes its name from the family of the Cosmati, which flourished in Rome during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and practiced the art of mosaic. The Cosmati's work is peculiar in that it consists of glass mosaic in combination with marble. At times it is inlaid on the white marble architraves of doors, on t ...
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San Tommaso In Formis
The church of San Tommaso in Formis is a small church in Rome, situated on the Caelian Hill. History Situated on the edge of Villa Celimontana and next to the Arch of Dolabella (Porta Caelimontana), a gate in the original Servian Wall, the church is dedicated to St. Thomas the Apostle. It is built into the side of the Claudian Aqueduct, from which comes ''in formis'' (''forma claudia'' is Latin for the Claudian Aqueduct). The church is believed to date back to the 10th Century, although the first certain date of its existence is 1209, when Pope Innocent III gave ownership of the church with the attached monastery to the Trinitarian Order whose founder, Saint John of Matha, lived there and made it the Order's headquarters.Breve notizia storica di San Tommaso in Formis. Available at the church. He adapted part of the monastery to become a hospital. Saint Francis of Assisi often stayed at the monastery. Around 1380 the Order was forced to leave Rome. In time, under the control of ...
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Sancta Sanctorum (Lateran, Rome)
The Sancta Sanctorum ( it, Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum) is a Roman Catholic chapel entered via the ''Scala Sancta'' (Holy Staircase) of the Lateran Palace in Rome. It was the original private chapel of the papacy before it moved to Avignon, and later to the Vatican Palace. The chapel is the only building from the old Lateran Palace that was not destroyed during its reconstruction. Name The chapel acquired the ''Sancta Sanctorum'' sometime in the ninth century. The spelling is ''Sancta'', the neuter plural form of the Latin adjective "holy": this is a reference to the multiple relics preserved there (i.e. "the most holy things") and to the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, traditionally called in Latin both ''sanctum sanctorum'' (the singular form) or ''sancta sanctorum''. History The founder of the chapel is unknown. It was originally dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and served as the pope's private oratory until the Renaissance. It is located at the top of the S ...
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Anagni
Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appearance of a small medieval hill town (424 meters above sea level), with small twisting streets and steep lanes. It is built inside Roman boundary walls. The built-up area initially included only the acropolis (the north-east zone comprising the Cathedral, Tufoli gate, and Piazza Dante) and partially defended by walls in ''opus quasi-quadratum'' (almost squared work). Under Roman domination, the map of the city changed, starting from the modification of the boundary walls. The archaic inhabited places spread out protected by the so-called Servius Tullius, Servian walls, made with stone blocks placed in alternate lines and dating back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Most of the boundary walls have been subjected to rebuilding an ...
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Santa Balbina
Santa Balbina is a Roman Catholic basilica church in located in the Aventine rione, adjacent to the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. History A church at the site initially was built in the 4th century over the house of consul Lucius Fabius Cilo. Possibly the ancient ''Titulus Tigridae'', the basilica was consecrated to St Balbina (died c. 130) in circa the year 600 by Pope Gregory I. It underwent many revisions since then, including by Pope Gregory III in 751, Pope Paul II in 1464, and by Cardinal Pompeo Arrigoni in 1600. Initially affiliated with Augustinians, the allegiance changed to the secular priests of Naples by Pope Innocent XII. The adjoining monastery has a commanding medieval defence tower. Inside the basilica there is a very fine episcopal chair with Cosmatesque decoration from the 13th century. The church was heavily restored in the 1930s when frescoes were discovered on the side walls from the 9th to 14th centuries. The Baroque frescoes in the apse and the triumphal ...
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San Lorenzo Fuori Le Mura
The Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le mura (Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls) is a Roman Catholic Minor papal basilica and parish church, located in Rome, Italy. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five "papal basilicas" (former "patriarchal basilicas"), each of which was assigned to the care of a Latin Church patriarchate. The Basilica was assigned to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Basilica is the shrine of the tomb of its namesake, Saint Lawrence (sometimes spelt "Laurence"), one of the first seven deacons of Rome who was martyred in 258. Many other saints and Bl. Pope Pius IX are also buried at the Basilica, which is the centre of a large and ancient burial complex. History Before the present-day Basilica was constructed, the former estate upon which it sits was once home to a small oratory built by Emperor Constantine I. The Emperor built it over the site on which tradition held that St. Lawrence was bu ...
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Baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in form. Baldachins are often supported on columns, especially when they are disconnected from an enclosing wall. A cloth of honour is a simpler cloth hanging vertically behind the throne, usually continuing to form a canopy. It can also be used for similar canopies in interior design, for example above beds, and for processional canopies used in formal state ceremonies such as coronations, held up by four or more men with poles attached to the corners of the cloth. "''Baldachin''" was originally a luxurious type of cloth from Baghdad, from which name the word is ultimately derived, appearing in English as "''baudekin ...
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Altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, modern paganism, and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor. Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman, Greek, and Norse religions. Etymology The modern English word '' altar'' was derived from Middle English '' altar'', from Old English '' alter'', taken from Latin '' altare'' ("altar"), probably related to '' adolere'' ("burn"); thus "burning place", influenced by '' altus'' ("high"). It displaced the native Old English word '' wēofod''. Altars in antiquity File:Tel Be'er Sheva Altar 2007041.JPG, Horned altar at Tel Be'er Sheva, Israel. File:3217 - Athens - Sto… of Attalus Museum - Kylix - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, ...
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Subiaco, Italy
Subiaco is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in Lazio, central Italy, from Tivoli alongside the river Aniene. It is a tourist and religious resort because of its sacred grotto ( Sacro Speco), in the medieval St Benedict's Abbey, and its Abbey of Santa Scolastica. The first books to be printed in Italy were produced here in the late 15th century. History Among the first ancient settlers in the area were the Aequi, an Italic people. In 304 BC they were conquered by the Romans, who introduced their civilization and took advantage of the waters of the Aniene river. The present name of the city comes from the artificial lakes of the luxurious villa that Roman emperor Nero had built: in Latin ''Sublaqueum'' means "under the lake." The name was applied to the town that developed nearby. The biggest of the three Subiaco Dams was then the highest dam in the world until its destruction in 1305. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the villa and the town were ab ...
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Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy. The basilica enshrines the venerated image of ''Salus Populi Romani'', depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as the health and protectress of the Roman people, which was granted a Canonical coronation by Pope Gregory XVI on 15 August 1838 accompanied by his Papal bull ''Cælestis Regina''. Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State.Lateran Treaty of 1929, Article 15 However, the Holy See fully owns the Basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof and to concede to it "the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic age ...
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Tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immurement'', and is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition, as an alternative to cremation or burial. Overview The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, grave (burial), burial, including: * Shrine, Architectural shrines – in Christianity, an architectural shrine above a saint's first grave (burial), place of burial, as opposed to a similar shrine on which stands a reliquary or feretory into which the saint's remains have been transferred * Burial vault (tomb), Burial vault – a stone or brick-lined underground space for multiple burials, originally vault (architecture), vaulted, often privately owned for specific family groups; usually benea ...
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